The plaque is hard to read and we cannot gain better definition but it says "Jesu mercy Mary help of your charity pray for the Soul of Lieut Colonel Frederick Sedley 4th Marquis of Taflia, Malta a benefactor of the Franciscan Minor Conventual Order and this Church, born Valletta, Malta 9 December 1837, died Rye 13 March 1921. Fortified by the Rites of the Holy Mother Church, RIP - motto Video Dominum Meum"

Colonel Frederick Sedley, 5th Marquis of Taflia in Malta

and his links with the Alessi Family

Colonel Frederick Sedley, 5th Marquis of Taflia, in Malta is commemorated on a bronze plaque over the iron grill doorway between the Friary and the church of St. Anthony of Padua in Rye.

As can be seen below the plaque states that "he was a benefactor of the Franciscan order in England and of this church". Historically, it had been suspected that he may have been responsible in some way for influencing the decision of the Franciscan Friars to come to Rye, to build a new church in ltalianate style and to dedicate this new church to St Anthony of Padua, a Franciscan. One major influence perhaps, could have been that an uncle, one of his mother’s brothers, Saverio Alessi, who was born in 1815 had become 3rd Marquis of Taflia and later a Franciscan Friar. Committed though Frederick Sedley may have been to bringing the Franciscans to Rye, he was to die before his wish came to fruition, for he died on 13th March 1921 in Badgergate, Rye.

Why the Sedley family chose Rye as a place of residence is unknown, what is known is that when Frederick Sedley and his wife, the Marquis and Marchesa di Taflia, landed at Dover in 1906, they brought with them the Rev. Father Bonaventure M. Scebberas OFM Conv. as their chaplain, he was a Franciscan. He was given the parish at Portishead near Bristol in 1907 and three years later he accepted the church of St. Walburga in Rye. The Catholic Times of 1st April 1910 records that ‘A fortnight ago the Very Rev. Fr. Bonaventure, Superior of the Friars Minor Conventual in England, arrived from Portishead to take charge of the new mission, and received a hearty welcome from the congregation, and also from many Protestants’.

The earlier church in Watchbell Street at this time was of course dedicated to St Walburga, but was, by 1926, proving to be too small for the growing congregation. By April 1927 definite plans had been drawn up and by July13th the demolition of the old church started. On August 9th. Fr Bonaventure laid the first brick. In October, Bishop Brown, the Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark, came on a visitation and blessed the new foundation stone.

The new church of St Anthony of Padua was officially opened on 30th June 1929. The architect of the church, as well as the magnificent high altar was Mr John B.Mendham ARIBA, and at the opening the Italian Ambassador was present. At the reception that followed, in the Mermaid Hotel, it is recorded that among others ‘the Marchesa della Taflia and her husband Captain Williamson-Waring were present’. No doubt the Marchesa would have wished that her father could have lived to see this day. She and her husband left Rye to live in St Leonards were she was to die without issue in 1953. Hence the title of the Marquises of Taflia died out and the title became extinct.

In 1982 the Committee of Privileges of the Maltese Nobility called the title out of abeyance, with Joseph Sammut Testaferrata Alessi becoming the 7th and present Marquis. His daughter, and only child, is his heir. His line of descent being from the first Marquis’s other son.

In July 2006 a decision was taken to attempt research in order to discover more about Frederick Sedley and how he came to have this title.

Initially it was thought that Colonel Sedley was British and his title was British, but this was soon found not to be the case. He had, in fact, been born in Valetta on Malta on 18th September 1836 to a Frederick Sedley senior, a Maltese Government employee who had been born in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Caterina Alessi, a minor, daughter of Dr. Francesco Alessi dei Marchesi di Tatlia LL.D. so his later title, as Marquis of Taflia, descended through his mothers line.

With this information as background it was decided to extend the research to discover more of this family and how they came to have links to Rye and, specifically St. Anthony of Padua Church.

It is acknowledged that the Sedley family were not, by any means, the only major donors to St. Anthony of Padua Church in these early years. This paper was simply produced in order to explore the background to the Sedley family and the Franciscan links to our church. to our church.

The results of this research follow herewith.

This article was researched and produced in July 2006 by John Kilroy, 2,Saltcote Mews, Saltcote Lane, Rye, East Sussex. TN31 7NR. Tel. 01797 222971